more buick photos coming; some words on the ‘76

Tuesday, December 11th 2007

I received an e-mail from a Free Spirit owner containing a crapload of very good photos that I have to post on my Buick site. All of them are really, really good and I’m sure once I get them posted all will enjoy them.

. . .

A few words on why I hardly ever say anything about the 1976 Free Spirit. Some people have asked and this is my response.

First, I don’t care for the boxy style of the ‘76. This was a time when Buick cars (as well as most other GM vehicles) deemed that “round is bad”. What you’re left with is square, or to say it nicely, “angular”.

Second, the consumer edition of the ‘76 is watered down (a lot) compared to the real pace car.

Let’s compare.

76century-1
The real pace car

76century-2
The consumer version (from indypacecars.com)

Several things are immediately noticeable from the real pace car compared to the consumer version:

No hood bulge
Missing front-quarter graphics
Chromed front bumper instead of painted with stripes
Hood ornament added (pace car had none)
“BUICK V6″ missing on either side of hood

With the ‘75, the only time things were missing looks-wise (assuming she still had her stripes) were the chrome accents on the grille and the Indy “wings” logo behind the opera window. Some had them and others didn’t.

With the ‘76 there were huge differences; enough to take away any “wow” factor the Century had in true pace car trim.

The consumer ‘76 pace car replica may be a Free Spirit but in-title-only as far as I’m concerned. She is very far removed from what actually paced the track.

If someone actually took the time to “re-do” a consumer edition ‘76 into what the pace car truly looks like, that would impress me.

But as far as the delivered version goes, nope. Looks like 70’s cheese to me; that’s why I hardly ever mention the ‘76. The ‘75 was a triumph in my eyes, but the ‘76 is what happens when you water down what would have otherwise been a great car.

tags: buick